Springtails and bristle-tails
 
Springtails, in the Subclass Collembola, together with two other Subclasses Diplura and Protura were in the past  classified as primitive wingless insects and included in the Class Insecta.  They are now known to have developed along different evolutionary lines and have been placed in a separate Class called the Entognatha.  They are still however thought to be evolutionarily close to insects, so the Entognatha and Insects are now grouped in the Subphylum Hexapoda, meaning 6-legged.  You could say nothing much has changed except the taxonomy.
  
Springtails  Collembola
 
Springtails are tiny wingless insect-like animals, 1-6mm in length, with three pairs of legs on the thorax, and up to 6 segments in the abdomen (insects have 11 or 12).  They are fairly soft-bodied and are mostly white or brownish-black with elongated bodies, although some like Sminthurinus are more egg shaped. Their antennae are relatively stout and long, and they have a special jumping organ or furcula, which is folded underneath the rear end of the abdomen.  When the springtail needs to escape a predator or unfavourable conditions, the furca is rapidly flicked out.  This propels the springtail into the air and gives these animals their common name of springtails.  They feed on decaying plant material, fungal mycelium and algae.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Dr Peter Shaw, one of Britain's few Collembola experts identified the following 16 species he collected in the Natural History Museum's Wildlife Garden, during a Wildlife Gardening Forum conference in 2015.
   
Brachystomella parvula
Hypogastrura purpurescens
Neanura muscorum
Entomobrya intermedia
Entomobrya nicoleti (2 colour morphs, probably separate cryptic species)
Lepidocyrtus 'cyaneus' (this has several cryptic species)
Lepidocyrtus 'lanuginosus' (this has several cryptic species)
Orchesella cincta
Folsomia manolechi
Parisotoma notabilis
Isotomiella minor
Isotomurus unifasciatus
Neelus murinus
Deuterosminthurus pallipes
Sminthurinus reticulatus
Katianna schoetti
 
Life cycle of springtails
Springtails deposit eggs in the soil and leaf litter.  These hatch into smaller versions of the adult animal.  They shed their outer skin on several occasions as they develop through to maturity  Unlike true insects, springtails also continue to shed their outer skin as many as 50 times after they have become adults.  Furthermore, when times are diffocult, they have the useful ability to shrink between moults, so needing less food. The life cycle from egg to adult can be completed in a few weeks during the summer. 
 
Role of springtails in gardens
Springtails feed mainly on dead plant material that is decaying.  In doing so they are helping to fragment the material and are an important part of the composting process and nutrient recycling.  Although some springtail species can nibble seedlings, they do not cause damage to garden plants or houseplants.  Springtails can be extremely abundant in the soil, leaf litter and compost heaps.  They are a major source of food for many predatory invertebrates such as centipedes, ground beetles and staphylinid beetles, prey on them.
 
 
Two-pronged bristletails - the Diplura
 
UK and Irish diplurans are similar in size to springtails, but they lack the jumping furcula, and instead have two posterior cerci. The British and Irish species all have very long cerci, but in other families they are short and pincer-like, remininscent of those of earwigs. They are usually colourless, and lack eyes, relying on long sensory antennae.  Like springtails they are cryptic, living in leaf litter and soil, and are rarely seen unless looked for.  They feed on dead organic matter, and some are predatory.  There are only 12 species in Britain and Ireland, all in the genus Campodea.
 
 
 
Species in Britain and Ireland
Britain and Ireland have about 250 species of springtails.  They are a poorly studied group, especially in gardens, and it is likely that more species will be discovered. They require damp conditions but otherwise occur in a wide range of habitats, particularly where there are accumulations of decaying plant material.  A garden compost heap is likely to contain millions of springtails. Tiny white springtails, Onychiurus species, often occur in peat-based potting compost and come to the surface when houseplants are watered. Common garden springtails include the large hairy Orchesella villosa and the similar Orchesella cincta, with a pale band on the abdomen. Pogonognathellus longicornis is another very common large species with long antennae.
 
This photo shows the rear underside of an ovoid springtail.  The furcula is the structure you can see arising from near the end of the abdomen, and running forward towards the thorax.
Springtails.  Above: L to R Orchesella villosa,  Orchesella cincta Pogonognathellus longicornis 
 
Left: L to R Sminthurinus reticulatus, Onychiurus sp.
Two images of Campodea fragilis, showing the almost equally long antennae and cerci
 
Coneheads: Subclass Protura
 
The proturans, sometimes called coneheads, are extremely tiny and inconspicuous hexapods, only described in 1907. Only a couple of millimetres long, they have no cerci, and are almost unique in the hexapods in lacking antennae. They are also blind and colourless, living in soil and leaf litter, sometimes in very large numbers.  Some scientists consider them ancestral to other Hexapods - including insects.
 
We have 12 species of Protura in Britain and Ireland , in the genera Acerella, Acerentomon and Eosentomon.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Proturans.  Left: unidentified proturan seen through a microscope. Right: Acerentomon species
 
The role of proturans in gardens (or most habitats) is poorly known, but they will contribute to decomposition of dead material, and probably eat fungal strands.  They may be important prey for small insects.
 
Other sources of information
 
Websites
Springtail page on the Natural History Museum website
Peter Shaw's website on UK Collembola
Checklist of British Diplura  
Checklist of British Protura
Collembola (in) A chaos of delight: a photographic guide to the soil mesofauna.
Diplura (in) A chaos of delight: a photographic guide to the soil mesofauna. 
Protura (in) A chaos of delight: a photographic guide to the soil mesofauna. 
 
 
Books
Hopkins, S. P. (2007) A key to the Collembola (springtails) of Britain and Ireland. A Field Studies Council AIDGAP key
Hopkins, S. P. (1997) Biology of the Springtails Oxford University Press.
 
Page written by Andrew Halstead, reviewed by Andrew Salisbury, extended and compiled by Steve Head
Springtails and bristle-tails
 
Springtails, in the Subclass Collembola, together with two other Subclasses Diplura and Protura were in the past  classified as primitive wingless insects and included in the Class Insecta.  They are now known to have developed along different evolutionary lines and have been placed in a separate Class called the Entognatha.  They are still however thought to be evolutionarily close to insects, so the Entognatha and Insects are now grouped in the Subphylum Hexapoda, meaning 6-legged.  You could say nothing much has changed except the taxonomy.
  
Springtails  Collembola
 
Springtails are tiny wingless insect-like animals, 1-6mm in length, with three pairs of legs on the thorax, and up to 6 segments in the abdomen (insects have 11 or 12).  They are fairly soft-bodied and are mostly white or brownish-black with elongated bodies, although some like Sminthurinus are more egg shaped. Their antennae are relatively stout and long, and they have a special jumping organ or furcula, which is folded underneath the rear end of the abdomen.  When the springtail needs to escape a predator or unfavourable conditions, the furca is rapidly flicked out.  This propels the springtail into the air and gives these animals their common name of springtails.  They feed on decaying plant material, fungal mycelium and algae.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Springtails and bristle-tails
 
Springtails, in the Subclass Collembola, together with two other Subclasses Diplura and Protura were in the past  classified as primitive wingless insects and included in the Class Insecta.  They are now known to have developed along different evolutionary lines and have been placed in a separate Class called the Entognatha.  They are still however thought to be evolutionarily close to insects, so the Entognatha and Insects are now grouped in the Subphylum Hexapoda, meaning 6-legged.  You could say nothing much has changed except the taxonomy.
  
Springtails  Collembola
 
Springtails are tiny wingless insect-like animals, 1-6mm in length, with three pairs of legs on the thorax, and up to 6 segments in the abdomen (insects have 11 or 12).  They are fairly soft-bodied and are mostly white or brownish-black with elongated bodies, although some like Sminthurinus are more egg shaped. Their antennae are relatively stout and long, and they have a special jumping organ or furcula, which is folded underneath the rear end of the abdomen.  When the springtail needs to escape a predator or unfavourable conditions, the furca is rapidly flicked out.  This propels the springtail into the air and gives these animals their common name of springtails.  They feed on decaying plant material, fungal mycelium and algae.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This photo shows the rear underside of an ovoid springtail.  The furcula is the structure you can see arising from near the end of the abdomen, and running forward towards the thorax.
Species in Britain and Ireland
Britain and Ireland have about 250 species of springtails.  They are a poorly studied group, especially in gardens, and it is likely that more species will be discovered. They require damp conditions but otherwise occur in a wide range of habitats, particularly where there are accumulations of decaying plant material.  A garden compost heap is likely to contain millions of springtails. Tiny white springtails, Onychiurus species, often occur in peat-based potting compost and come to the surface when houseplants are watered. Common garden springtails include the large hairy Orchesella villosa and the similar Orchesella cincta, with a pale band on the abdomen. Pogonognathellus longicornis is another very common large species with long antennae.
 
 
Dr Peter Shaw, one of Britain's few Collembola experts identified the following 16 species he collected in the Natural History Museum's Wildlife Garden, during a Wildlife Gardening Forum conference in 2015.
   
Brachystomella parvula
Hypogastrura purpurescens
Neanura muscorum
Entomobrya intermedia
Entomobrya nicoleti (2 colour morphs, probably separate cryptic species)
Lepidocyrtus 'cyaneus' (this has several cryptic species)
Lepidocyrtus 'lanuginosus' (this has several cryptic species)
Orchesella cincta
Folsomia manolechi
Parisotoma notabilis
Isotomiella minor
Isotomurus unifasciatus
Neelus murinus
Deuterosminthurus pallipes
Sminthurinus reticulatus
Katianna schoetti
 
Life cycle of springtails
Springtails deposit eggs in the soil and leaf litter.  These hatch into smaller versions of the adult animal.  They shed their outer skin on several occasions as they develop through to maturity  Unlike true insects, springtails also continue to shed their outer skin as many as 50 times after they have become adults.  Furthermore, when times are diffocult, they have the useful ability to shrink between moults, so needing less food. The life cycle from egg to adult can be completed in a few weeks during the summer. 
 
Role of springtails in gardens
Springtails feed mainly on dead plant material that is decaying.  In doing so they are helping to fragment the material and are an important part of the composting process and nutrient recycling.  Although some springtail species can nibble seedlings, they do not cause damage to garden plants or houseplants.  Springtails can be extremely abundant in the soil, leaf litter and compost heaps.  They are a major source of food for many predatory invertebrates such as centipedes, ground beetles and staphylinid beetles, prey on them.
 
 
Two-pronged bristletails - the Diplura
 
UK and Irish diplurans are similar in size to springtails, but they lack the jumping furcula, and instead have two posterior cerci. The British and Irish species all have very long cerci, but in other families they are short and pincer-like, remininscent of those of earwigs. They are usually colourless, and lack eyes, relying on long sensory antennae.  Like springtails they are cryptic, living in leaf litter and soil, and are rarely seen unless looked for.  They feed on dead organic matter, and some are predatory.  There are only 12 species in Britain and Ireland, all in the genus Campodea.
 
 
 
Springtails.  Above: L to R Orchesella villosa,  Orchesella cincta Pogonognathellus longicornis 
 
Below: L to R Sminthurinus reticulatus, Onychiurus sp.
Two images of Campodea fragilis, showing the almost equally long antennae and cerci
 
Coneheads: Subclass Protura
 
The proturans, sometimes called coneheads, are extremely tiny and inconspicuous hexapods, only described in 1907. Only a couple of millimetres long, they have no cerci, and are almost unique in the hexapods in lacking antennae. They are also blind and colourless, living in soil and leaf litter, sometimes in very large numbers.  Some scientists consider them ancestral to other Hexapods - including insects.
 
We have 12 species of Protura in Britain and Ireland , in the genera Acerella, Acerentomon and Eosentomon.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Proturans.  Left: unidentified proturan seen through a microscope. Right: Acerentomon species
 
The role of proturans in gardens (or most habitats) is poorly known, but they will contribute to decomposition of dead material, and probably eat fungal strands.  They may be important prey for small insects.
 
Other sources of information
 
Websites
Springtail page on the Natural History Museum website
Peter Shaw's website on UK Collembola
Checklist of British Diplura  
Checklist of British Protura
Collembola (in) A chaos of delight: a photographic guide to the soil mesofauna.
Diplura (in) A chaos of delight: a photographic guide to the soil mesofauna.  
Protura (in) A chaos of delight: a photographic guide to the soil mesofauna. 
 
Books
Hopkins, S. P. (2007) A key to the Collembola (springtails) of Britain and Ireland. A Field Studies Council AIDGAP key
Hopkins, S. P. (1997) Biology of the Springtails Oxford University Press.
 
Page written by Andrew Halstead, reviewed by Andrew Salisbury, extended and compiled by Steve Head
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